Friday afternoon, members of Portland Mountain Rescue and paramedics from the
American Medical Response Reach and Treat Team rescued an injured climber from
the crater of Mount Hood.

The 20-year-old male subject fell while descending a steep portion of the
Hogsback, a ridge between 10,400 and 11,000 feet in the peak's crater.
The man did not fall into the Bergschrund crevasse, but did tumble several
hundred feet down into a gully on the West side of the Hogsback.

Mt Hood Reference Map

Fortunately, he was able to stop the fall before
reaching a large fumarole (volcanic vent) in the area.

Though an Oregon National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was on scene at Timberline
Lodge, rescuers chose to evacuate the climber via the ground. The man was
packaged in a rescue litter with backboard and lowered progressively down the
mountain.

PMR rescuers used their Hogsback
Kit, a lightweight rigging system used to lower litter-packaged
patients down the relatively mild slopes of the Mount Hood's South Side.
In a rescue such as this one, successive lowering stations are created every
300 feet. Though the Hogsback Kit is an efficient method, it still takes
a considerable amount of time to cover the 1-1/4 mile distance from the
Hogsback to the top of the Timberline Ski Area at Palmer Snowfield.

The condition of the patient is reportedly stable and the overall rescue took
into the early evening.